Investment company Wedbush reported that compared with iPhone 14, the sales of the iPhone 15 series were stronger after their launch, with the iPhone 15 Pro Max performing particularly well. Wedbush was positive about Apple ahead of the iPhone 15 launch, later called the event "impressive," and now reports that demand for the series is greater than forecast.
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"According to our analysis, iPhone 15 pre-orders are much better than we and the market expected, and are approximately 10%-12% higher than iPhone 14," Wedbush analysts said in a note to investors.
The analyst continued: "iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max sales have been extremely hot in the United States, China, India and parts of Europe. In India, we believe pre-orders have increased by nearly 25% year-on-year, and the Chinese market also appears to be very strong. Given recent news from the region, China remains Apple's focus."
"Our inspection of the Asian supply chain this weekend increases our confidence that iPhone shipments should be in the mid-85 million range, possibly closer to 90 million units, as eye-popping carrier promotions that have begun will be a major catalyst for holiday season upgrades," Wedbush said.
Wedbush said carrier promotions are one factor, but it also believes another factor is what it has previously described as a "mini super cycle" of users upgrading from older iPhones.
"We believe FY24 iPhone sales should be flat in the range of 225 million units... as Cupertino's pent-up installed base upgrade cycle is underway," Wedbush said in the report. "We estimate that more than 250 million of the world's 1.2 billion iPhone users have not upgraded their phones in more than four years, illustrating Apple's potential demand for the next iPhone release."
Although iPhone 15 sales were larger at launch, the full-year figure of 225 million iPhones is consistent with Wedbush's previous forecast for this year. Therefore, Wedbush maintains Apple's $240 price target unchanged.